A Foreign Affair Page #9
- APPROVED
- Year:
- 1948
- 116 min
- 741 Views
- Sorry, sir.
Since that committee arrived,
you've been playing a double bill
with the lady from Iowa in the upper half.
I'd appreciate it
if you leave her out of this, sir.
You would?
Pressure has been exerted to have you
go back to the United States for a while.
- So I've heard.
- You're not going of course.
Of course. When do proceedings start, sir?
Captain Pringle, you're to stay away
from that certain party, off limits.
Suits me fine. It was all washed up
anyway as far as I'm concerned.
Let's get this straight. You're to stay
away from the Congresswoman.
Pick up that torch for
Frulein von Schltow,
light it again and carry it in public,
that's an order.
- Well, how do you do.
- You've heard of Hans Otto Birgel?
- That was her guy.
- He's hiding out in the American zone.
- He's dead.
- He's very much alive.
And thanks to you, he's kicking.
so we watched Miss von Schltow.
Here are three letters we intercepted.
Someone tipped him off that his girl
has been seeing an American officer.
He's a jealous rat. He says he's going
to come out and kill you both.
- That's cute.
- Now, go on back and fan those flames.
Stick around the Frulein until he shows.
I wish I'd never crossed
the Remagen Bridge.
Sorry, son, that's the way it reads.
OK, I'm going.
Only I think I'll have that coffee first.
Never mind the cup.
Just give me a spoonful of the powder.
- Do you have your passport with you?
- No.
You just tell them who you are
and they check with the army officials.
- I can't do that.
- Why?
What if the German papers pick it up
and there are some ugly references?
Of course there's one person who could
get you out of all this nastiness.
Me. I could do it.
No names mentioned. No aftereffects.
Just as if it never happened.
Why should you? You don't like me.
It's not generosity. We Germans
can't afford to be generous.
We're very poor.
It's give and take if we are to survive.
What have I to give?
- What do you want to take?
You know what I told him?
That you were a country cousin of mine.
Perfectly easy if you have a safe conduct
with the signature of
a kind American officer on it.
And you wanted to chop his head off.
Exactly what is it you want from me,
Frulein von Schltow?
Let's go up to my apartment.
It's only a few ruins away from here.
- No, I'd rather not.
- You'd better.
You may need a handkerchief.
This is a beastly thing to do but you must
understand what happened to us here.
We all become animals
with exactly one instinct left.
Self-preservation.
Take me, Miss Frost.
Bombed out a dozen times.
Everything caved in
My country, my possessions, my beliefs.
Yet somehow I kept going.
Months in air-raid shelters
crammed in with 5,000 other people.
I kept going.
What do you think it was like to be a woman
here when the Russians swept in?
I kept going.
It was a living hell...
and then I found a man.
And through that man,
a roof and a job and food and...
And I'm not going to lose him.
What has all this to do with me?
A little. You see, you want the same man.
Come on. I told you
you'd need a handkerchief.
This is how he looked when I met him first.
He was a lieutenant.
He sat at his desk interrogating me.
He had such a grim, businesslike face,
but fortunately I was wearing
my last pair of silk stockings.
He's really a nice boy.
You mustn't judge him
by what he did to you.
He hated it. I know.
Of course, he would come here
and feel so miserable and sorry for you.
Your plane is leaving tomorrow, isn't it?
Don't sit there as if it was the end
of the world. Nothing happened.
He played a dirty trick on you, that's all.
So you fly off back home,
wash your hands, wash your lips...
They've got so much soap
in the United States.
Sorry. You know this game of love.
If you want to take
the advice of an old gambler,
some people are jinxed.
They shouldn't even sit down at the table.
I do not imagine you care to see him again.
Why not go up the stairs where it's dark
until he comes in and then leave?
Go on, leave. Haven't you had enough?
What is this, a big scene?
We can't keep a gentleman
in the dark, can we?
Four hours ago you could
have had him court-martialled
and sent me to a labour camp, not now.
Not any more. Now you're one of us.
Hi.
What's the matter?
No kiss for your little Schweinehund?
I'm sorry I had to show up with that
Congress dame. She's gone dappy.
Doesn't mean a thing.
Leaving tomorrow anyway.
Come on.
Sorry.
I guess this is where the funny man says,
"Shall we dance?"
You are not a funny man, Captain Pringle.
But you are quite a dancer.
What a waltz we had.
Good night.
Hey, Frulein!
Hey, Frulein!
Hey, Frulein!
Hey, Frulein!
Ein moment, Frulein!
Holy mackerel!
The last time we had
one of these, it lasted 11 days.
You're a great comfort.
You can't get to Washington soon enough, can
you, to dash off that black Berlin report?
No report at all, Colonel Plummer.
- No?
- I came here as an objective observer.
Some things have happened
which automatically disqualify me.
Aren't you taking it a little big?
- You know nothing whatever about it.
- I got a hunch.
In a way, I'm glad you took off the
blinkers and wandered away on your own.
It's a big mess we're trying to clean up.
There's a lot of rubble.
Rubble of all kinds,
vegetable, mineral and animal.
You walk around on it, you're apt to get
conked on the head by a loose brick.
Stop it, please.
I've had about all I can stand.
(Plummer) I'm sorry but I feel a little
responsible about that loose brick, Pringle.
- Colonel, please.
- I'm not trying to whitewash him.
There isn't enough paint
in Germany for that
but let me scrape together
something in his defence.
- I'm not listening.
- Take it from me.
He won't get off scot-free.
As a matter of fact,
he's started to pay already.
It's no fun to walk around
with a target pinned on your chest.
I'd appreciate it if you'd leave me alone.
How's about some reading matter
for the plane?
Those aren't teardrops. I was washing my
hands when he asked me to give it to you.
All right, I'll put it right there.
Colonel Plummer, it's clearing. We should
be taking off in about 20 minutes.
- Thank you.
- Yes, sir.
Gentlemen, I was just informed there will
be no flights until tomorrow morning.
Now, we might as well
get ourselves back into town.
Sorry, Miss Frost. We're going
to wait for the fog to lift a little.
Amidst the ruins of Berlin
Trees are in bloom
as they have never been
Sometimes at night
you feel in all your sorrow
Her perfume as of a sweet tomorrow
That's when you realise at last
They won't return
the phantoms of the past
A brand new spring is to begin
Out of the ruins of Berlin
Amidst the ruins of Berlin
Trees are in bloom
as they have never been...
Hans Otto Birgel.
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"A Foreign Affair" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/a_foreign_affair_8433>.
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